Main PointsKey Reads
Stephen Conneely – 3 minutes ago
The leader of the Alliance Party has said this weekend’s events have been “all so utterly, utterly unnecessary and predictable.”
Naomi Long, who sits in Stormont, said her thoughts are with members of the PSNI “who are yet again placed in an impossible position”.
Naomi Long delivering her speech at the Alliance Party annual conference in March, 2025. Photo: Neil Harrison Photography/PA Wire
Alliance’s deputy leader, Eóin Tennyson, said “people are in utter despair that this is where we are as a society this morning.”
“Reopening the Pandora’s box of Drumcree has only caused huge hurt and has raised tensions to a level not seen in years,” he said, adding “we cannot relive the past. We must be capable of learning from it and finding a way to move forward together. “
“Our utmost priority must be the safety of all concerned. I am again appealing for calm, restraint and cool heads on all sides,” he said.
Stephen Conneely – 24 minutes ago
WATCH: Breandán Mac Cionnaith, head of Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, reacting to the overnight decision to overturn the ban on the Orange Order being allowed to march through Garvaghy Road. Video: Clodagh Kilcoyne.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, head of Garvaghy Road Residents’ Association, reacts to the decision to overturn the ban on the Orange Order being allowed to march.
Stephen Conneely – 54 minutes ago
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant. Photograph: Oliver McVeigh/PA Wire
The UK government’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said he will arrive in Belfast this afternoon, adding he wished “we weren’t in this position”.
“I wish we weren’t looking at relitigating things of the past. But the court decided that the adjudication, the determination of the Parades Commission stood. So it’s important that everybody abides by the law,” Chris Bryant told the BBC.
“I can imagine that lots of people didn’t sleep very well last night, not least because of course the court case was going on till very late into the night, till 2.30 in the morning,” he said.
“I know lots of people will be watching this very, very closely, including people who have long memories of things that happened 30 years ago, and people will be very nervous and anxious,” he continued.
He urged people in the Garvaghy Road area to “co-operate with the police.”
“I want everything to pass off as calmly as is possible,” he said. “I’m speaking to the police obviously on a regular basis throughout the day, and was last night as well, and so is my team.”
Stephen Conneely – 1 hour ago
No violence or disorder thus far, says NI Chief Constable
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said the police presence on the Garvaghy Road has “helped ensure there has been no violence or disorder” this morning.
“I am immensely grateful for all those voices who have already called for calm,” he said and urged “those with influence to encourage people to comply with the law and work with the police to keep everyone safe.
“We have an evidence gathering operation in place to detect any offences and will continue to do this throughout today,” Boutcher said, adding “police are engaging and working with all parties and will continue to do so.
“I’m unbelievably proud of my officers who, supported by mutual aid colleagues, are managing an exceptionally challenging situation.”
“It is incumbent on us all to come together at times like this to do all we can to preserve a peaceful Northern Ireland,” he said.
Stephen Conneely – 1 hour ago
DUP leader Gavin Robinson. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
The leader of the DUP, Gavin Robinson, has said Michelle O’Neill has a “duty” to “uphold lawful decisions, not inflame opposition to them” as First Minister.
“The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Féin likes the outcome. Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law,” he said.
Robinson continued: “The legal position is now unequivocal. 35 Orangemen can walk in silence along Garvaghy Road. The Court of Appeal found that the injunction had been granted in error, and the High Court subsequently confirmed that the Parades Commission determination must be respected.”
“Yet Michelle O’Neill described that outcome as ‘disgraceful’, claimed an Orange procession was being ‘forced’ through the area and declared, ‘There is no going back. Not tomorrow. Not ever’.
“The Orangemen of Portadown have conducted themselves with dignity and respect for the rule of law for 28 years and once again have demonstrated their maturity today.” – Additional reporting: PA.
Stephen Conneely – 1 hour ago
The Irish Government has said it “is monitoring the situation on the ground closely and will remain in contact with key interlocutors, including the Garvaghy Road residents.”
“The Government is very concerned about the situation,” it said in a statement, adding its “primary concern remains to avoid a return of the divisions of the past, recalling the significant progress made over many years in furthering reconciliation under the Good Friday Agreement.”
Elsewhere, British prime minister Andy Burnham has called for “calm on all sides”, saying “we don’t want to see things go backwards” as there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland”.
It is a “tense” and “challenging situation today,” he said on the BBC’s political programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, “but it’s very important that we work to bring calm.”
Burnham said he had spoken to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, on the issue as well as Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Saturday “because we work very closely together on all these matters.”
Stephen Conneely – 2 hours ago
Michelle O’Neill: ‘This questions how peace process works’
Michelle O’Neill, First Minister of Northern Ireland, speaks to the media on September 27, 2026 in Portadown. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said this morning’s events “brings into question how this whole peace process works.”
“The progress of the last 28 years has been brought into question by the actions of the Orange Order and those within political unionism who want to drag us backwards,” she continued.
“You’ve heard it here today,” O’Neill said while pointing in the direction of demonstrators, “you’ve heard people’s view of Stormont… in terms of politics working for them.”
“I’ll tell you what does not belong anywhere in our community is an Orange march ram-roaded down against the wishes of this community, that will not be tolerated anywhere,” she said.
“What I see here is a community under siege, once again retraumatised,” she said.
The First Minister said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has “serious questions to answer” about this morning’s events. “I think their judgment is seriously in question,” she said.andy
The Parades Commission also has questions to answer, she went on. “This is something that we were told weeks ago was a procedural error… so, what has changed to change this determination?”
Stephen Conneely – 2 hours ago
Mary Lou McDonald: ‘Put a stop to this’
Speaking after the delay of the march, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said people gathered on the Garvaghy Road because they are “angry” and “devastated at what has happened”.
“They cannot countenance the idea that anybody would seek to set this place back almost 30 years and revisit the trauma that this community endured,” she said.
“They’re absolutely determined that this will not happen again, that there will be no way back, only steps forward.”
First Minister Michelle O’Neill (centre left) and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald (centre) at the Garvaghy Road. Photograph: Peter Morrison/PA Wire
McDonald called on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, “to intervene” and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Jon Boutcher, to “put a stop to this”
Stephen Conneely – 2 hours ago
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has dramatically told the Orange Order that it will not be able to march on Garvaghy Road in Portadown this morning, because there are too many Nationalist protestors on the road who are refusing to move, Mark Hennessy reports.
However, it is unclear whether the PSNI instruction means that the march will not take place at all, or is to be delayed for some hours, though Nationalists on Garvaghy Road have interpreted the police decision as a complete victory.
Nearly 1,000 Police Service of Northern Ireland officers equipped with water cannon are on duty in Portadown for the planned march by the Orange Order on Garvaghy Road, following a dramatic late-night clearance for the parade by the Court of Appeal in Belfast.
Police began to move shortly before 7am into both ends of Garvaghy Road with a small number of PSNI Land Rovers, who issued warnings to Garvaghy Road protestors that they were in breach of 1998 marching legislation because they had not given notice of their protest march.
Protesters gather on September 27, 2026 in Portadown, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
More than a thousand local residents and supporters, including Sinn Féin TDs and People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, are on the road, insisting that they would peacefully protest and that they would have to be moved by the police.
Shortly after 7.30am, the small group of Orange Order members gathered at Drumcree’s Church of Ireland church had talks with a middle-ranking officer, who outlined how the march would be shepherded along the road: “When you tell us to go, we’ll go,” said one of the Order.
However, this was dramatically reversed within minutes when the PSNI returned to tell the Orange Order that they would not be allowed to march because there were too many protestors on Garvaghy Road who could not be forced off the road – sparking fireworks in celebration from nationalists.
Stephen Conneely – 2 hours ago
Loud cheers erupted from the crowds on Garvaghy Road after being informed the Orange Order had left Drumcree.
The cheers were soon followed by chants of “Bring Stormont down” from some of the protesters. – Press Association
Stephen Conneely – 3 hours ago
Carla Lockhart, a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of parliament who has attended court proceedings this weekend in support of the Orange Order, has said “there is nothing to fear” about the march.
“There is no threat, no triumphalism, not even music,” she posted on X alongside this photo of Orange men gathering.
This dignified grouping of men, walking silently down Garvaghy Road is what Republicans are whipping others, many bussed into the area, to be afraid of.
There is no threat, no triumphalism, not even music. There is nothing to fear.
The rule of law must prevail. pic.twitter.com/Y9rPRtdchY
— Carla Lockhart MP (@carlalockhart) September 27, 2026
Stephen Conneely – 3 hours ago
Breandán Mac Cionnaith stands in the front line of the protest on September 27, 2026 in Portadown, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, stands before a line of demonstrators, linked arm in arm, who intend to block the Orange Order from marching through the area.
People have gathered in the area since the early hours of Sunday morning, not long after the Court of Appeals ruled that the march will go ahead.
Stephen Conneely – 3 hours ago
Nationalists protest against an expected parade on September 27, 2026 in Portadown, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
In the minutes leading up to the Orange Order march’s scheduled start time, Marie-Therese Murray, whose 12-year-old son Darren was knocked down and killed after being chased by Loyalist demonstrators, was seen on the Garvaghy Road.
Northern Correspondent Seanín Graham has some of what she said.
Marie-Therese Murray protests on Garvaghy Rd. She holds a photo of her 12 yr-old son Darren, who was knocked down and killed 30 years ago after being chased by loyalists. She rarely speaks about her loss but felt she had to protest today for “next generation” @IrishTimes pic.twitter.com/ExbydcCmNj
— Seanín Graham (@SeaninGraham22) September 27, 2026
Stephen Conneely – 3 hours ago
Demonstrators have gathered on the Garvaghy Road from the early hours of Sunday morning. They are planning to block the Orange Order from marching through the area.
Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy is there now, where demonstrators are being told “organising or taking part in the protest is committing an offence and is liable to arrest and prosecution.”
The warning from the Police Service Northern Ireland to Garvaghy Road protestors angry at the midnight decision of the Court of Appeal in Belfast to allow the Orange Order parade along the road for the first time in 30 years pic.twitter.com/tTf8xQAEv6
— Mark Hennessy (@MarkHennessy) September 27, 2026
Stephen Conneely – 3 hours ago
The Orange Order is to march down the Garvaghy Road this morning. What decisions have brought us here?
35 members of the Orange Order is to march down the Garvaghy Road, a largely nationalist area in Portadown, Co Armagh, this morning for the first time in 28 years.
Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission has since 1998 not allowed the Order to do so following massive security operations and violent clashes between nationalist and unionist demonstrations in the 80’s and 90’s. Five people were killed in incidents linked to these tensions.
But the Commission on Friday afternoon granted an application by the Order to march down the Garvaghy Road – a move that was quickly challenged in the courts.
Belfast’s High Court on Saturday evening struck down the Commission’s decision, with Judge Patricia Smyth ruling the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
But The Court of Appeals in the early hours of Sunday morning reversed this decision, allowing the Commission’s initial decision to stand. Judge Siobhan Keegan said her judicial colleague had “unfortunately erred in law”.